FAIRFAX, Va., Dec. 8 /PRNewswire/ — General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems successfully completed the Critical Design Review (CDR) for the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) spacecraft which is scheduled for launch in December 2012. General Dynamics is responsible for the design and fabrication of the spacecraft bus, integration of the government-furnished instruments, satellite-level testing, on-orbit satellite check-out and continuing on-orbit engineering support. General Dynamics will also provide a spacecraft/observatory simulator. General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems is a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) .

General Dynamics is building the LDCM spacecraft in its state-of-the-art satellite manufacturing facility in Gilbert, Arizona. The company has previously built 13 satellites, including NASA’s Swift, RHESSI and Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, as well as GeoEye’s GeoEye-1 satellite. The company is using mature, qualified, flight-proven components to reduce development time, shorten integration time and improve performance.

The complete LDCM system design was presented to the NASA Independent Review Team representing NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and Kennedy Space Center, the United States Geological Survey and The Aerospace Corporation.

Since 1972, Landsat satellites have collected information about Earth from space and archived imagery of the Earth’s surface for use in agriculture, education, business, science and government. The Landsat Data Continuity Mission observatory will include evolutionary advances in technology and performance.

The next major milestone for the LDCM team is the Spacecraft Integration Readiness Review scheduled for April 2010.

Headquartered in Fairfax, Va., General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems is a provider of end-to-end mission solutions in systems integration, development and operations support to customers in the defense, intelligence, space and homeland security communities. The company integrates land, air, sea, space and cyber assets to facilitate the collection, exploitation, analysis and dissemination of mission-critical intelligence information. More information is available online at www.gd-ais.com.

General Dynamics, headquartered in Falls Church, Va., employs approximately 92,300 people worldwide. The company is a market leader in business aviation; land and expeditionary combat systems, armaments and munitions; shipbuilding and marine systems; and information systems and technologies. More information about General Dynamics is available online at www.gd.com.